Mothers

And I was force fed as a child sometimes until I was sick by my father who would jam open my mouth. Now THAT was quite traumatic. He tried the 'you'll sit there until its gone' and then resorted to force and violence.

Studies have shown that toddlers are programmed to reject 'green food' because their brains process it as poisonous. They need to be TAUGHT that it isn't.

And the way they are programmed to learn what's safe to eat, is by seeing you eating it, so the way to get toddlers to eat green stuff is to eat it in front of them, a lot, with real enjoyment.

When my nephew was younger; my mum used to puree up veggies to get him used to it from the first tastes of solid food. She used to use homegrown 'fresh' veg and the colour was amazing. He loved it because the colours were vibrant and the taste was sweet. I think getting them when they're young with the freshest food is vital. Who wants to eat 10 day old cauliflower anyway?

Simple answer yes parents do make you who you are, but our behaviour works the opposite way, as parents can be held responsible for the behaviour of a child we spend half our lives responding back as adults, so parents behaviour can be altered too.

My Mum had an op on Tuesday to have a lump removed from her breast. Now we wait for test results to find out how it went. She has been very positive about 'catching it early' etc in the few weeks since finding the lump. She's spent the last few years ferrying my Dad back and forth to hospital but unfortunately he's not well enough to do it for her.

The older I get, and the older my children get, the more I forgive my mother for everything I ever blamed her for. She wasn't perfect and she wasn't superhuman, she was just doing her best, same as we all do.

Good luck Womble. Your mother is protecting her children. Faced with the same situation mine did the same, and so did I. What else are you spposed to do?

And as a mother myself, I haven't yet told my my children about their Gran's illness. I'm waiting until something like 'the answer' is available. They are 22 and 19 but obviously I still feel very protective towards them.

For some reason my parents deserted me and my siblings. I was six years old when they climbed into a car and without a word, drove off.

Our questions (to grand-parents) were met with silence. I mean, how upset can you get. I felt like I'd swallowed a grapefruit whole. I got used to the idea they were gone forever after a week or so. You run out of tears.

Several weeks later they returned with some excuse but it made no difference, As far as I was concerned, they were dead.

I look after my mother out of duty not affection. She's in hospital right now and wondering why the staff seem to avoid her. I would suggest that constant demands, questions and complaints might have everything to do with it.

She's terminal. But from my point of view its just postponed since 1967.

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